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Spirit Dancing
Considered the most elegant, graceful style of magic, spirit dancing is a magnificent sight to behold. Spirit dancers will, hence the name, perform intricate moves in reverance of a certain spirit to both honor and amuse that spirit. In exchange, the spirit will bestow its power upon the spirit dancer, be it through longevity and health or more offensive matters. It is, in a sense, a cultivated form of shamanism. Spirit dancing is both used for situations of war as well as those of peace, all depending on the situation. Most apprentice spirit dancers will channel the magic throuugh their bare hands, while more trained dancers have learned how to project this magic through objects, those objects often being weapons. An armed spirit dancer can prove to be a fierce foe on the battlefield, becoming a deadly whirlwind of magic and steel. Grades of Spirit Dancing Spirit Dancing is a versatile art, showing itself in many ways, although there are two main categories of spirit dancing, as mentioned above. Unarmed Unarmed spirit dancing is often a dance of peace and frequently seen as a mere traditional performance, rather than magic. It consists of joyful trots and merry ballets which appeal to certain spirits that could create a festive mood or atmosphere. Some spirit dancers from Yantsu Island are famous for their fireworks magicians who will attend to certain festive events and dance to Fire and Light for magnificent and (hopefully) harmless fireworks. It is also common for many spirit dancers to get together and dance in row to spirits such as Joy and Love to amplify the festive mood. But even though most unarmed spirit dancing is used for peaceful matters, some trained individuals have practed unarmed spirit dancing for combat matters, so that they won't have to draw their weapon, should combat present itself suddenly. But still, unarmed spirit dancing is not nearly as effective as its counter-part. Armed Armed spirit dancing, a way taught to resillient warriors of the east. In a flurry of magic and steel, armed spirit dancers prove deadly foes on the battlefield and are considerable forces to be reckoned with. Armed spirit dancers will dance to the spirits and be granted tireless vigor and speed, blazing weaponry, daunting strength, all depending on the situation they wish to adapt to. Armed spirit dancers are not common and a regular army will not have more than four or five, as these typhoons of destruction require a lot of space to perform their dances and wouldn't want to cut down their own. Locations of Practice Spirit dancing is an art only practiced very few places and those who practice it often stick to these places. Spirit dancers are rarely seen out of their home regions, as most believe that either their art is something only they should know, or that they simply perform better at home. Yantsu Island The people of Yantsu Island, although normally shrouded in mystery, openly claim to be the very first practicers of spirit dancing. This art has long been a part of their culture and many have forgotten how it all began. Nonetheless, the people of Yantsu Island are unshakably proud of it and for good reason. Yantsu Island is home to some of the most practiced masters of spirit dancing, one of them being the emperor himself. Spirit dancing on Yantsu Island is at times used for peaceful matters, but due to frequent war between clans, most spirit dancers are trained for the purpose of being a killing machine on the battlefield. Those who have proven themselves to have mastered the art are given the title of 'samurai' and are deployed together with the greatest of armies. These samurai have discarded every trace of emotion and their resillient mind is focused one one single thing: war. Lumion Lumion, different from Yantsu Island, is a place where the peaceful aspect of spirit dancing is revered over that of war. Lumion is home to a society of High Elves and Myaani who have wandered from their homes in search of new lands and new knowledge, and that is just what they found. They found the great blue-leafed woodlands of Lumion, but they also began to observe how the people of Yantsu Island performed their dances. The people of Yantsu Island often came around Lumion, and some even stayed there, more willing to share their knowledge of spirit dancing. The Myaani and High Elves, who both are quick learners, picked up the art of spirit dancing rapidly and began telling their friends and family. And so the art spread like wildfire over the people of Lumion. Different from Yantsu Island, spirit dancing is a very common art in Lumion and most people know at least a few moves. And no one uses it for combat matters. Spirit dancing is almost always used for festive events in Lumion and the combat style is nearly considered inferior and downright offensive towards their culture.